


Green Skies Broken Lives

by nekros



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Adventure, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-12 22:29:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5683237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekros/pseuds/nekros
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashen and Piper travel out to Goodneighbor. The two are caught in a radiation storm and must get to cover. It doesn't help their situation when Piper finds out that Ashen is very afraid of storms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Out in the Storm

### Chapter 1 - Out in the Storm

Goodneighbor was never a town most of the Commonwealth would settle down in, or even travel to. The town's home to a bunch of misfits. Chem addicts, ghouls, robots, criminals, and others who don't fit in anywhere else. It was nice though, having a place that accepts all. _ Of the people, for the people. _ That was their motto. Everyone's welcome.

"Blue, what are you heading to Goodneighbor for? Looking to get high or something?” Piper asked her companion Ashen. She had offered to travel with the former vault dweller after hearing her story while interviewing her for the newspaper.

Ashen glanced at her Pip-Boy for the time. _ 7:13 PM. _ The sun certainly was setting. "Just wanted to visit. We should hurry up though, it's getting late." The vault dweller picked up her pace, leaving Piper no choice but to run after her.

Ashen and Piper were nearing Goodneighbor now. They'd give themselves about 15 more minutes until they reached the entrance. Too focused on the road, Ashen didn't notice the sky's sickening turn of color. Once a dark shade of blue now turned into an ominous green glow. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder cracked in the air. This caused Ashen, the seemingly fearless survivor of Vault 111 to freeze in their tracks.

"Piper... What's with the sky?" Ashen turned to face the reporter. Fear washed over her face.

"Oh, this?" Piper gestured to the sky. "It's just a radstorm, Blue. You haven't been around much to see one of these, huh?"

Ashen shook her head in disagreement. Her body didn't want to obey her and she started shaking. Piper picked up on that pretty quickly.

"Hey, hey Blue, calm down. It's gonna be okay." She put her hand awkwardly on Ashen's shoulder.

Another flash of lightning. "We should probably get going Blue, don't want us turning into a couple of ghouls out here."

"Yeah... Yeah you're right Piper. We really should get going."

* * *

"So this is Goodneighbor, huh. I expected this place to be more run down."

Piper could look around Goodneighbor as much as she wanted during this radiation storm, but Ashen was not having any part of it. She rushed past Piper and made her way down to The Third Rail.

"Blue! Hey Blue, wait up!" the reported called out for her.

Soon enough Piper caught up to as she was entering The Third Rail. Safe from the storm, well the physical effects of it anyway.

Ashen took a moment to regain her composure. The thunder was loud at times which still shook her up. She leaned against a wall and tried to stop her body from shaking, but it wouldn't obey her.

Piper stayed close to Ashen. She knew her companion was scared, but she hadn't realized _how_ scared. "Hey, you're safe now. The storm won't hurt you in here." Piper tried to comfort the vault dweller. She never was good with comforting others, unfortunately.

"That, that's not the point," Ashen sighed. "It's terrifying out there! How can people just get used to that?" She pushed herself off the wall.

"Well, you've been frozen for a while. We all had time to get used to it by now." Piper awkwardly placed her hand on Ashen's shoulder. "Soon enough you'll get used to it too."

The two went downstairs and took a seat at the bar. It was Piper's idea to buy drinks to hopefully help Ashen get through the storm. Ashen had her head down on the table with a couple of empty bottles of alcohol around her. She normally wasn't one to drink, but right now she took whatever Piper had bought her. It didn't help that she didn't eat beforehand, now because of that her head started to hurt.

Piper busied herself by mindlessly rubbing Ashen's back in circles. She didn't want to have much to drink. The reporter wanted to stay somewhat sober to make sure Ashen would be okay.

"Hey... Piper?"

"Yeah?"

Ashen lifted her head up and looked around. Her vision was a little blurry and she felt dizzy. There wasn't many people in the bar that night. "Is... Is the storm over?" She must of dozed off at one point.

"Can't say for sure, Blue. I could go check outside for you," the reporter offered.

Ashen leaned closer to Piper. "Don't go."

This caught Piper by surprise. She never saw the hardened vault dweller look so vulnerable before. Ashen always looked so fearless, it wasn't just her appearance that gave out those vibes, but also the way she held herself. It was probably the fear mixed with alcohol that brought this out.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." Piper turned towards Ashen. "Shouldn't we find a place to stay for the night though?"

Ashen groaned in response. She didn't want to have to walk to the hotel, plus, what if the storm was still passing through and they just couldn't hear it from where they were? "Yeah sure, let's go get a room," Ashen agreed reluctantly.

Standing up was not easy for Ashen. Her head was now pounding and her legs were unsteady. Balance was just not there for her. Piper however, stayed right beside her in the event that she did stumble.

They found out pretty quickly that the storm had not passed. The good thing was that it turned from a radiation storm to a simple thunderstorm. As fast and safe as she could, Piper helped Ashen walk to the hotel and paid for a room.

* * *

"I never took you for the type that would be scared of storms," Piper spoke quietly.

"Yeah well, now you know I guess. Just because I have a beaten up face like this doesn't mean I'm tough," Ashen mumbled. She really didn't want to discuss this matter. It was embarrassing enough that Piper had to see her like this.

The reporter sat down next to Ashen on the hotel room bed. "It's okay to be afraid, Blue."

Ashen sighed and buried her face in her hands. She was never used to showing fear or weakness. Thunder cracked in the air again and it startled her, causing her to jump. Piper put her arm around Ashen and pulled her close. Ashen stiffened at the contact, not being used to being touched gently before.

"You can relax, it's only me." Piper smiled softly down at Ashen. She just wanted her to feel safe.

"Can we lie down?" Ashen asked. She sat up slightly and took her hands away from her face.

"Yeah, of course we can." Piper kicked off her boots and slid into bed.

Ashen followed suit and settled in close to Piper. "Are you okay with this?"  Ashen asked hesitantly. She had hoped the two of them sharing the same bed wouldn't make Piper uncomfortable. The reporter didn't seem to complain, but she still felt the need to ask.

Luckily for Piper the room was very dark, so Ashen wouldn't be able to see how red her face was. "Yeah Blue, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me, it's just what friends do." _ Friends. _ Who was Piper fooling? She knew she wanted Ashen to be more than _ just _ a friend but there's no way she'd ever admit it.

Ashen felt safe next to Piper, the storm couldn't hurt her here. Ashen absentmindedly buried her face in Piper's chest. It was too late for her to take this action back, so she decided to just fully commit.

Piper on the other hand, her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. Having Ashen this close to her was like a dream come true. The reporter carefully wrapped her arms around the scared Ashen and held her close.

The two stayed like that for quite awhile. The storm had passed by then. "Blue, you still awake?" Piper whispered. No response. Ashen had fallen asleep. Piper softly kissed the top of Ashen's head and cuddled even closer to her. "Sleep well, Blue."

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi so, thank you for reading this fic! It's my very first one I've ever posted on here. I will probably continue this. It was intended to be a one-shot, but I'll extend it as seen fit.


	2. Clearing

### Chapter 2 - Clearing

Morning came quickly for Ashen and Piper. Sun shined through the dirty windows of the hotel. Strangely enough, Ashen found herself lying in bed resting her head on Piper’s chest while Piper had her arms around Ashen’s waist.  _ What happened last night?  _ Ashen asked herself.

The reporter had her eyes closed, seemingly still sleeping. Surely if she were awake she’d be very embarrassed.

“Piper, hey are you up?” Ashen asked quietly.

There was no answer, she was still sleeping. The vault dweller took the time to carefully slip out of the bed and freshen up. In truth, Ashen wanted to spare Piper the embarrassment of waking up next to her.

Piper woke up a little after Ashen had left. She looked around the room for Ashen, but she was nowhere to be found. Thousands of thoughts rushed through Piper’s head. What if Ashen never wanted to see her again? The reporter sighed, grabbed her hat, put her boots on, and left the room. 

She walked downstairs into the main lobby and saw Ashen leave the restroom from across the room. Ashen noticed her and run up to her. “Hey, sorry I left you up there alone, thought I’d freshen up before we head out.”

That made sense to Piper. She once again had let her thoughts get the better of her. Still, for some reason she could not shake the feeling that the atmosphere between her and Ashen was awkward. “Yeah, no problem, Blue. I should probably do the same.”

“Okay Piper. Meet me back in our room after.”

* * *

Ashen sat on the floor trying to remember the events of last night. She only remembered bits and pieces. There was a storm. She was afraid and they hung out at The Third Rail. Drinks were involved no doubt because she felt the effects of a small hangover. 

The door opened slowly and Piper stepped into the room. She was nervous and didn’t know why Ashen would want to meet back up in their room. She sat down next to Ashen. “So uh, Blue, what did you want to meet up in here for?”

“About last night…” Ashen started uncomfortably. She fiddled nervously with her gloves. “What… exactly happened last night?”

Piper cleared her throat and kept her gaze on the floor. “Well, there was a storm on our way to Goodneighbor. You, you were really scared so we rushed as fast as we could to the town and went to some bar called The Third Rail.”

Ashen looked at the reporter and squinted slightly. “Piper, you know I don’t drink.”

“Yeah, well I know that! You’re the one that was going in that direction in the first place!” She defended herself.

Ashen shifted her position. “So um, what happened after that?”

“Oh, well you had some drinks and we went to the hotel to sleep.”

The vault dweller narrowed her eyes. “Did we…?”

It took a moment for Piper to register what Ashen was meaning. “God, no! Blue, we, we didn’t  _ do  _ anything like  _ that _ !” Piper’s face got bright red. She took her hat off and hid her face in it. Sure she  _ liked _ Ashen, but she never thought of having sex with her.

Ashen coughed uncomfortably. What a relief. She sure was glad she didn’t do anything stupid. She glanced up at Piper, to see the reported was clearly embarrassed, hiding her face to add to it. “Piper, it’s alright.” She said in a soothing tone.

“Yeah, yeah I know… It’s just-”

“It’s just nothing, You explained everything. I’m grateful.” Ashen stood up and offered her hand to Piper.

The reporter slowly took her hat away from her face and looked up at Ashen. She quickly put her press hat back on her head and gripped Ashen’s hand. The vault dweller helped her up. She wrapped her arms around Piper and pulled her closer. “So thank you Piper, for being out here with me and choosing to put up with me.”

Piper hugged Ashen tightly and kept her face hidden in her chest. She really wouldn’t of imagined the hardened survivor to even express this much affection towards her. All this kindness she’s received from Ashen, but for what? She wasn’t anything special. Piper soon felt tears start to prick at her eyes. “I… I don’t put up with you Blue. I chose this, to come with you out here in the Commonwealth. I wanted to be here with you.” She choked up.

Ashen rubbed Piper’s back in soothing circles. She didn’t know what to say. Piper really meant what she was saying. She really wanted to come with her, to venture this hell hole to find her son. “Well… I’m glad you’re with me Piper. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my fic! I can't really continue this so I am going to end it here.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi so, thank you for reading this fic! It's my very first one I've ever posted on here. I will probably continue this. It was intended to be a one-shot, but I'll extend it as seen fit.


End file.
